


Polished and Poised

by Miragefiction



Series: Golden Dawn [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Bathtub Sex, Character Study, Enthusiastic Consent, F/M, Foot Massage, Married Life, Multiple Orgasms, Post-Game(s), Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 11:40:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20796044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miragefiction/pseuds/Miragefiction
Summary: After a rough day arguing with politicians and church officials, Claude and Byleth find time to indulge in each other.





	Polished and Poised

Byleth had come to realize that her husband was a little bit vain.

Perhaps it should have been obvious all along, but she had never been in the habit of judging people based upon their dress or overall appearance. She had always found him handsome of course, in an objective sort of way, and as she gradually fell in love she began to pay more attention to such things. The golden-brown of his skin, his cheeky grin, the brightness of his eyes, the broad expanse of his shoulders... Those, in addition to his winning personality, were the things she appreciated and came to love. On the outside, he was all effortless charm and easy smiles but she always knew there was more buried underneath.

After a few weeks of marriage, she was starting to realize how much actual care and time he put into this appearance. 

He took easily three times as long as she did to dress and get ready in the mornings. Part of this was that he was generally preferred to stay up later and sleep later than was her previous normal routine. He was slow to wake and take any sort of action before dawn, much less navigate the intricacies of his preferred mode of dress. 

And it was fairly intricate. If she had not observed him rather closely as he dressed and undressed daily, she would have been quite baffled at how he managed it all. Layers and belts and multiple capes, several different knots, pins, cravats, armor, and flounces... It was near incomprehensible, but impressive nonetheless. 

She often had to have a maid to help her dress on days where she had to wear formal clothing (like today), but somehow he did all of that by himself on the regular. 

People gave her things to wear nowadays - uniforms, robes, and even jewelry, and she wore them as was expected of a person in her station even if they weren’t particularly to her taste. 

He, however, loved his clothes and dressing well. He took great pride in his appearance and the quality of the things he owned. He had several sets of identical gold jackets in pristine condition waiting in their wardrobe. The mirror he had sent for all the way from Almyra was rather staggering in size, nearly filling the height of their room from floor to ceiling. How they had managed to transport it without breaking it to pieces was frankly a miracle. 

He bathed and shaved nearly every evening like clockwork, and became exceptionally grumpy if this ritual was delayed.

She found it all a bit odd, but like her, he had grown up outside of traditional nobility, running and fighting for most of his young life... She would never begrudge him a few frivolities when they were so well-earned and clearly brought him so much happiness. 

And if there was one thing he liked more than bathing, it was bathing together. 

And that she did not mind at all.

When she returned to their rooms late that evening she was not surprised to hear the sounds of water coming from the bathing room off from the main chamber. 

“You’re awfully late,” he called through the open door, voice echoing off the tile. “I take it the meeting with the bishop went as expected?” 

She just sighed loudly in response and went to sit at her dressing table to take off her tiara and earrings without speaking. 

“...That bad, huh?”

She shrugged out of her cloak and draped it over the bench, reaching down to untie her sandals. “I suppose I can’t blame him for being upset when we are basically rewriting holy scripture,” she said glumly, “But he was spitting like a cat. He practically called me a heretic to my face. So much for being the Enlightened One...!”

Claude laughed, the sound of it amplified and echoing to an almost comical degree. “I’m sorry... Would it have helped to have your half-heathen husband at your side?”

She smiled a little at her reflection in the mirror, before sighing again at the sight of her own tired eyes. “Probably not. He was completely obstinate. I thought Seteth was going to bite his head off.”

“Ha, I’m almost sorry I couldn’t make it.”

“No, I don’t think you are.” She rubbed her face and pointedly changed the subject. “How was your day?”

“Ah, you know, another day another dozen disputes. You’d really think all this new trade would be a good thing,” he said breezily. “Growing pains, I suppose.”

She shook out her hair with another sigh. “Do you have wine in there?” She asked hopefully.

“Of course!”

She stood up to let her overdress drop to the ground in an untidy heap. “Thank heavens for that.” 

Dressed only in her shift and smalls she walked into the bathing room. The tile was warm under her bare feet and slightly damp from the steam. 

His hair was wet and hanging loose around his face, and what was visible of his bare torso above the edge of the tub was gleaming in the candlelight. His face was slightly flushed from the heat of the water, or perhaps it was from the wine, and the sight of him instantly made her feel a tug of desire from deep within.

He leaned over to hand her a glass of wine.

She wasn’t sure if she could love anyone more than she loved him at that moment. 

“Thank you,” she said softly and drank a healthy swallow. Then another.

He smiled up at her expectantly. “Join me?” 

She nodded, setting her now empty glass on the small table beside the tub. She reached down and pulled her shift over her head in a smooth fluid motion and tossed it to land neatly in the laundry basket on the other side of the room. Her small clothes followed swiftly after. 

He watched appreciatively with hooded eyes, his arms crossed loosely over the edge of the tub. 

“Anybody ever tell you that you’re awful good-looking for a heretic?” 

She smiled a little as she carefully stepped into the water across from him. “That’s how we get you,” she said evenly. “Seduction is a powerful conversion tool, after all.” 

“Well, call me a convert...” 

The water was still quite hot, and she hissed through her teeth as she lowered herself into the tub, but didn’t stop until she was submerged up to her shoulders. She stretched and leaned back with a long sigh, her legs bumping and sliding against him. The heat seemed to pull the tension right out of her, making her feel loose and light-headed. She closed her eyes. It was a rather divine sensation.

“Feeling better?” He asked hopefully. 

She nodded. “Getting there.” 

“Let me help.”

He found her foot under the water and lifted it up to rest on his knee before slowly beginning to knead up from her heel. 

“Oh...!” She groaned, toes curling in unexpected pleasure.

Now she was sure she couldn’t possibly love him any more. 

“Good?”

She nodded and let her head loll back against the back of the tub. “Mm. That’s... Lovely... Ah...!”

He pushed his fingers between her toes and squeezed, thumb scoring a line up the tender center of her foot. 

He kept at it for a moment until she was feeling practically molten, then gently draped her leg over the edge of the tub and switched to her other foot, running his hand up her calf. 

She opened one eye to look at him. He was sitting up more than she was, water only coming to his midsection right under his chest. It made for a rather spectacular view, though, all gleaming pectorals and shoulders above the steaming water.

“You’re spoiling me,” she said with a soft breath. 

“I am,” he confirmed brightly. “Only the most high-quality pampering for my queen... Though I may have a few ulterior motives.”

“Oh? Which are?” She asked hopefully, opening her other eye to fully appreciate his mischievous grin.

He winked. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

“How ominous.”

He laughed. “Don’t worry, I think you’ll be on board.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Now, come over here and turn around.”

She quirked an eyebrow at him. 

“For the rest of the massage!”

“...Of course,” she said dryly, but eagerly complied, turning her body in the water and pulling her hair over her shoulders. He took her by the sides and gently drew her towards him and between his knees. 

He applied a generous amount of lightly-scented oil to his hands and began to rub her shoulders.

She leaned back into the touch. “Are you sure you haven’t done anything particularly dastardly lately?”

“You wound me, my dear,” he said, voice dripping with mock-offense. “I’ve been perfectly well-behaved.”

She scoffed lightly at that. 

“...Well, mostly,” he amended. 

She was becoming less and less concerned with conversation as his hands continued to move and work her shoulders, thumbs pressing deep into the tender muscles at the junction of her neck and back. 

His hands were truly amazing. 

His long, deft fingers, slightly calloused, felt exactly at home against her skin, his confident touch so completely welcome she could barely remember a time before she knew the sensation. 

Those hands wandered languidly over her shoulders now and down her collar bone to slide around and under her breasts, squeezing gently.

She leaned back against him, shifting backward until she was practically sitting in his lap. She could feel him now pressing eagerly against her backside. 

“I’m not sure who’s enjoying this massage more, you or me,” he mumbled appreciatively into her neck.

She simply sighed and nodded, running her hands up his arms and then back to hook around his neck, arching her back against him with slow stretch.

His fingers found her nipples, barely whispering over them at first, circling them, and then lightly rolling them between his thumbs and forefingers.

“Oh..!”

One hand dropped lower, venturing downwards and between her legs. 

His fingers were hot and lightly oiled, and they slid against her perfectly.

She moaned and she felt him twitch against her in response. 

They had only been married for a short time, but he seemed to have already figured out the exact way to turn her into a shuddering puddle.

“Feeling good now?”

“Oh, yes...”

“Shall I continue then?”

“Please...!”

He stroked her slowly at first, almost lazily, until she was practically rolling her hips into his hand, sending waves through the water.

Her breathing was quickly becoming ragged, an urgent fluttering growing low and tight in her belly. His fingers became more insistent, slipping and curling into her.

“Ah! Oh... Oh, I’m...!”

“Close?”

She bit her lip and nodded. “Can you... I want...”

“Anything for you, love.”

She squirmed, lifting her body up. “I want... you inside me.”

He tensed for a moment, grip tightening, then laughed breathlessly, a low rumble against her neck. “Well, happy to oblige...” 

Without further preamble, he spread her open and pushed his length up into her with a groan. 

It was as if he was designed for her, every inch filling her so completely, thickness stretching deep inside her until she couldn’t possibly take any more. It sent every nerve ablaze within her, white-hot and trembling and so, so perfectly good.

“Oh, goddess..!”

One hand was still cupping her breast, the other low against her hip to steady her. As he began to thrust, his fingers found her center again right above where their bodies were joined. He continued to stroke her in time with the rocking of his hips.

She had already been nearly on the precipice, so it didn’t take long for this focused attention to send her over the edge with a sharp wordless cry. 

Every one of her muscles drew tight as bowstrings for one long ecstatic moment, but he didn’t stop moving. He drew out every shuddering spasm, thrusting hard and fast into her until she felt like she was going mad with pleasure, the water violently splashing around them and over the edge of the tub and onto the floor. 

He kissed her hair, her neck, and then bit the delicate shell of her ear. 

At this she jerked again, a second impossible rush of pleasure quaking through her like a thunderclap. She practically sobbed his name as it rocked through her.

That was the end for him too, and he moaned as he came, hips bucking her almost completely out of the water. 

“Ahh... Oh goddess, oh holy—!”

He bit off an expletive and sputtered into unintelligibility.

She slowly slid back down into the water and against him again, feeling utterly spent and completely boneless. 

For a few moments, she could only lay draped over him, shuddering and gasping as her mind and body swam, flooded with warmth in every way possible. 

“Mmm...”

“Oh... th-that...”

“Mmm. A-are you all right?” She asked hoarsely, turning over so they were pressed belly to belly. 

He was leaning back so far his head was hanging backward over the edge of the tub, chest and neck muscles heaving as he struggled to regain his breath. “Ahh... Haha... Damn...”

He sat up with some effort, hair falling in his eyes and expression a very gratifying mix of exhaustion and contentment. “Mmm. I think I was in the afterlife for a second there...” 

This was how she liked him best, all the polish and poise washed away, simple and clean and hers. 

She laughed softly, a puff of air against his chin. “Glad you’re still with us. That was... rather magnificent.”

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up his body for a kiss. “Mmm. You’re magnificent.”

She propped herself up on his chest with her arms, looking up into this face with a coy expression. “...You were right, though.”

“Hmm?”

She smiled and kissed him. “I was totally on board.”

He blinked at her for a moment and then grinned broadly. “Mmm, you were,” he said, but his expression softened after a moment. “But there is actually one more thing I want to ask you.”

She rubbed her nose against his. “Ah-ha. Well, I’m feeling rather agreeable at the moment, so ask away.”

He kissed her again, gently on the forehead. “Will you come back to Almyra with me?

She sat back a little in surprise.

He continued before she could gather a response. “Not forever, of course. Just for a visit. Official business, but... I want to show you my homeland.”

She watched him for a moment, taking in his hopeful, earnest expression, totally devoid of his usual guile. “Oh, Claude... I’d love to but... Is that really wise right now with the church and everything still in an uproar? There’s still so much to do here.”

He nodded, squeezing her again. “You’re probably right. But... I have to go, and I don’t want to leave you behind. Not again.”

She thought on that for another long moment, a growing sensation of dread settling into her stomach at the mere idea of being separated again. She had tried to prepare herself for this eventuality, but she had hoped they would have a season or two together first. She sighed and dropped her face to bury into the crook of his neck. “I don’t want that either... But...”

“Let’s not make a decision tonight,” he said easily. “We’ll sleep on it and come up with a plan in the morning.” 

And just like that, he was back to strategizing. She loved that part of him, too, after all. 

She nodded slowly, feeling light again. She didn’t want real-life worries to chase away this hard-won happiness, not yet. “All right.” 

The water around them was not quite as hot as before, bubbles swirling in lazy eddies around their bodies. His hands were slippery on her back as he traced fingers down her spine.

“I guess we should actually wash up, huh?” He suggested. 

She nodded, yawning. “I suppose so. I’ll scrub your back if you scrub mine?” 

He grinned. “You know, this marriage thing is really working out.”

That made her smile again. “Did you ever have any doubt?” 

“Never,” he said, so swiftly and resolutely it made her fall in love all over again.


End file.
